I am lucky not to have much of a problem with JBs - I got rid of my Blanc Double de Coubert white rose because they really were drawn to that! (I read somewhere that they have a preference for white flowers and it seemed to be true). Robins in spring love to eat the grubs (as do skunks!). When we were digging out dead grass the spring we got rid of the rose, the robins lined up on the electrical wires and the top of the abour waiting for us to put out the grubs for them to eat! It got so that whenever they saw us appear they'd head for 'the feeding station' and yammer at us to hurry :-) Different hibiscus varieties have different flower times so you might want to try different varieties. Here, Disco Belle and Lord Baltimore are the earliest - late June/early July. My dark pink 'the child' Disco Belle seedling started blooming much later (end of July) and continued to the end of October. Fireball' doesn't start until August. I don't pinch any of them but pinching should help you. But be on the look-out for later blooming varieties too.

Hi Bonnie! I'm glad they got a good home! Yes I think it'd be good to put a couple of inches of mulch around the bases. It's advised to keep the mulch off of the trunks of the trees, but those giving that advice aren't dealing with our winds! I'd put mulch down soon, it's been dry enough that they'd appreciate a drink and the mulch to keep moisture in the root zone. More importantly, I think is to avoid sunscald on the south/west sides of the trunks. The winter sun heats up that side of the tree during the day, then the night cold can cause the tissue in the bark to rupture, basically. I wrap my deciduous trees around Thanksgiving with the tree wrap in the link below. I take it off around Easter. I do this the first 2 - 3 years, until the trunks reach some size and are more used to our intense winter sun. It'll be tricky since the trunks are tiny. Another option, which I do for conifers that can't be wrapped is to cover the tree with an upside down tomato cage. I secure it with 3 landscape pins pushed into the soil. Then I wrap the tomato cage in burlap. I get a lot of mail order conifers from the Pacific Northwest that have never seen anything like our sun and altitude. I lost a lot of them till someone on the conifer forum suggested they would benefit from screening the first couple of years. You didn't realize I was giving you a project, did you?! I'm taking some time off around Thanksgiving and would be glad to come over for a tree wrapping visit. I have a lot of tree wrap, so no need to buy any. I'm very high tech, so I use duct tape to secure the wrap, lol! Barb Here is a link that might be useful: Tree Wrap

Okay, my whole to-do list is now on Workflowy. It could not be easier to use. I like it a lot. I had my kids d/l it too. I am a big fan. I was happy that it was relatively painless to cut and paste it from my docx file. I ended up upgrading to Workflowy pro, which will automatically backup my list to a drop bpx, enable me to edit offline, and also gave me additional fonts and themes for the look of the app. Pricey, though, at $49/yr. On that last point, I think they could really improve the looks. Even with Workflowy Pro's extra choices, the look is very spartan. And the themes were designed by a 13yo boy I think. It sounds minor, but it isn't. It will be something I look at every day. How tough is it to allow different background colors and fonts? Two other comments. One, Any. Do has voice recognition. That is very handy; they should add it. Two, I think items on the list that have due dates associated with them could be handled differently. Right now you can tag them with a hash tag, but I think you they should make it easier to associate and item with a due date, perhaps using a drop down calendar. Thank you, Marina Gal!

You need to notify everyone you know that you've moved. We had cheap business cards printed that we just hand out to folks who need to know. Make sure you have enough keys for the doors. Make sure you know how to operate the HVAC system, alarm system, and anything else that is 'programmed'. Update your information with the DMV and voter registration. You should also notify your banks, credit cards, etc. Make sure you have insurance coverage and they have a move-in date. Don't forget the champagne (or whatever you celebrate with)!